Team Fortress 2’s Pyro is getting a jet pack

Team Fortress 2’s Jungle Inferno update arrives today, bringing with it a fresh batch of jungle-themed maps, 36 new contracts and a bunch of new cosmetic items. It also introduces some major changes for the Pyro, thanks to four new weapons.

The Pyro’s new weapons, which include a jetpack that can be equipped in their secondary weapon slot, can be earned by completing six contracts coming in today’s update. Here’s a description of each and what they do:

• The Dragon’s Fury (primary) — A powerful single-shot flamethrower. Consecutive hits reduce reload time and deal bonus damage.
• The Thermal Thruster (secondary) — A jetpack that fires a short-duration blast and deals 3x falling damage to opponents you land on.
• The Gas Passer (secondary) - A gas can that creates a “horrific visible gas cloud” that coats enemies with a flammable material that ignites into afterburn if enemies take damage.
• The Hot Hand (melee) - A glove that gives Pyro a speed boost when you hit an enemy player. Every successful slap with Hot Hand is displayed in the kill feed.

The Pyro’s other flamethrowers are also getting some tweaks, with new particle effects and a more consistent visual representation of flame damage. Afterburn effects are also changing: Burn duration is now based on how long the flamethrower was actively hitting an enemy, Valve said, meaning “no more puff-and-run attacks that make enemies burn for ten seconds.” Airblast effects are also getting an overhaul.

Oh, and Pyro is also getting this taunt.

Finally, the Heavy class is also getting something new: a banana that recharges health. It’s called The Second Banana. Sad.

More details, including extensive patch notes, are available at the Jungle Inferno pages on the Team Fortress 2 website.